Debt Recovery

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs on increasing enforcement powers for financial institutions seeking to recover unsecured debts; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: DTI was consulted on DCA proposals to increase enforcement powers for financial institutions seeking to recover unsecured debts, in particular proposals to widen access to charging orders, during development of the "Effective Enforcement" White Paper of March 2003. DTI and DCA continue to liaise closely on the planned reforms of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 and related issues.
	It is the Government's position that responsible creditors who are owed money and having gained valid judgments through the courts should have the right to enforce that judgment by the most appropriate means available.
	Such action is balanced by proposals to enhance consumer protections, including proposed tightening of the licensing procedure through the Consumer Credit Bill to tackle unscrupulous lenders at source, appropriate limits to the application of charging orders, and action to ensure greater use of "time order" provisions.

Departmental Consultation

Peter Ainsworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will list formal consultations being sponsored by his Department and its agencies; and what the (a) commencement date and (b) deadline for responses is in each case.

Alan Johnson: The information as follows:
	
		
			 Department/ Agency Title of consultation Commencement date Deadline for responses 
		
		
			 DTI Use of net and gross calorific values for calculating energy balances 28 July 2005 31 October 2005 
			 
			 National Weights & Measures Laboratory RRO for self-verification—Weights and Measures Act 1985 to include "adjusters" 29 July 2005 29 October 2005 
			 
			 DTI Cost recovery arrangements for protected energy companies in energy administration 4 August 2005 27 October 2005 
			 
			 DTI Future sourcing of DTI energy price data 15 August 2005 11 November 2005 
			 
			 Insolvency Service Implementation of UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency in Great Britain 22 August 2005 14 November 2005 
			 
			 National Weights & Measures Laboratory Consultation on the draft Regulations implementing the Measuring Instruments Directive/MED 23 August 2005 14 November 2005 
			 
			 Patents Office Consultation on whether there is a continuing need for a UK Classification Key (UKC Key) 30 August 2005 22 November 05 
			 
			 DTI Part 9 Enterprise Act—easier release of information for civil court cases 23 August 2005 18 November 2005 
			 
			 DTI Consultation on proposals to implement two EC Directives on the safety of cosmetic products 8 September 2005 25 November 2005 
			 
			 DTI Statutory Review of the Renewables Obligation 19 September 2005 9 December 2005 
			 
			 DTI Notice pursuant to section 91(2) of the Fair Trading Act 1973—Revocation of Monopolies & Restrictive Practices (Dental Goods) Order 1951 28 September 2005 28 October 2005 
			 
			 DTI Notice pursuant to section 91(2) of the Fair Trading Act 1973—Revocation of Monopolies & Restrictive Practices (Imported Hardwood and Softwood Timber) Order 1960 28 September 2005 28 October 2005 
			 
			 DTI Notice pursuant to section 91(2) of the Fair Trading Act 1973—Revocation of Restriction on Agreements (Estate Agents) Order 1970 28 September 2005 28 October 2005 
			 
			 DTI Advancing equality for men and women: government's proposals for a gender duty 4 October 2005 12 January 2006 
			 Patents Office Consultation on proposed changes to the Patent Office's business hours for receiving and according dates to applications, forms and other documentation 12 October 2005 6 January 2006 
			 
			 Patents Office Modernisation and consolidation of the Patent Rules: An informal consultation 17 October 2005 30 November 2005 
			 
			 Export Credit Guarantee Department Interim Response to ECGD's consultation on changes to its anti-bribery and corruption procedures introduced in December 2004 21 October 2005 18 November 2005 
			 
			 DTI Amendment to the Noise of Outdoor Machinery Directive (2000/14/EC) 26 October 2005 23 November 2005 
			 
			 DTI Draft Order raising the Maximum Penalty for Persistent Misuse of Electronic Communications Networks or Electronic Communications Services to Tackle Silent Calls 31 October 2005 24 January 2006

Correspondence

Alex Salmond: To ask the Prime Minister when he expects to reply to the letter dated 16 May from the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan regarding the Tear Fund.

Tony Blair: My hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development (Gareth Thomas) replied to the hon. Member on 29 September in response to his letter of 16 May and his follow-up letter of 29 July. I have placed a copy of the letter in the Libraries of the House.
	Letter from Mr. Gareth Thomas to Mr. Alex Salmond, dated 29 September 2005
	Thank you for your letter of 29 July to the Prime Minister enclosing a postcard from your constituent about Tearfund's "HIV/AIDS and Children" campaign. I am responding as the Minister who leads on the issues raised.
	It is a terrible human catastrophe and presents an unprecedented challenge to the developing world and to the eradication of poverty. The cost in terms of human life and economic burden on national governments, communities and families is enormous. Women and young people, including the rising number of orphans are particularly vulnerable.
	The Government is taking action. Last year we published "Taking Action—the UK's strategy for tackling HIV and AIDS in the developing world", and committed at least £1.5 billion to tackling HIV and AIDS over the next three years. Of this, at least £150 million will go into supporting orphans and children made vulnerable by HIV and AIDS. The UK was one of the first countries to endorse UNICEF's "Strategic Framework for the Protection, Care and Support of Orphans and Children Made Vulnerable by HIV/AIDS".
	DFID is working directly with national governments to support the development and implementation of national programmes for the support and care of children affected. In Mozambique we have given funding to help the Government properly track its programmes for orphans and vulnerable children to ensure that aid reaches the children that need it most. In Kenya we are directly supporting community based organisations to help them deliver home based care services, including to children affected by AIDS.
	We are investigating the best ways to build systems that provide support to vulnerable children and their families, possibly in the form of monthly child or family allowances. This will simplify the tracking of funds from government budgets to the poorest families. The cash received through these transfers enables families and communities to make their own decisions about the best way to improve their livelihoods and care for their children. Another important area in which we are investing is the health of children living with HIV. For example we have supported trials of a cheap and widely available drug (co-trimoxazole) which have shown that it can halve the death rate for HIV infected children in Africa. We are also supporting a new research programme to assess how to provide antiretroviral treatment for children in resource-constrained settings
	Monitoring development expenditure by category, as your campaign highlights, is an area where all of us, the international community, donor organisations and national governments can all do better. DFID has recently introduced a new system to enable us to better monitor our support for orphans and vulnerable children, Activities which will be recorded include special programmes for children made vulnerable by AIDS, cash transfers to vulnerable families, exemption from school fees and help with food.
	DFID also believes that monitoring and evaluation are crucial with regards to other financing instruments such as the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM). DFID has funded work specifically to develop the Global Fund's capacity for monitoring and evaluation. We believe that progress is being made, but there is more to do.
	We are delighted to be co-hosting with UNICEF, later this year, the Global Partnership Forum on children affected by AIDS. We anticipate that this Forum will examine how funding can better reach community based organisations. Bottlenecks that prevent funding getting to those most in need must be identified and unlocked We see this as a crucial part of the wider efforts at "Making the Money Work"—a process being led by UNAIDS to ensure greater harmonisation and co-ordination alongside the additional resources now being made available to tackle HIV and AIDS The steps we are taking are a start, but there is much still for all of us to do.
	I hope this is helpful.

Capital Gains Tax

Vincent Cable: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of the number of beneficiaries of (a) taper relief and (b) exemption from capital gains accrued but unrealised at death in (i) 2004–05 and (ii) 2005–06, broken down by income decile; and if he will make a statement.

Dawn Primarolo: The number of individuals liable to capital gains tax in 2003–04 (the latest year for which data is available) benefiting from taper relief is shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Income decile(1) Number of individuals benefiting from taper relief 
		
		
			 No income subject to income tax 11,000 
			 Bottom decile 7,000 
			 2nd 5,000 
			 3rd 5,000 
			 4th 6,000 
			 5th 6,000 
			 6th 6,000 
			 7th 7,000 
			 8th 9,000 
			 9th 14,000 
			 Top 41,000 
			 Total 117,000 
		
	
	(1) Income deciles have been defined in terms of income subject to tax for income taxpayers only. Income is before the deduction of any allowances and reliefs.
	In addition, 10,000 trusts liable to capital gains tax in 2003–04 benefited from taper relief.
	The second part of the question concerns capital gains accrued but unrealised at death. We have estimated the number of estates passing on death where the inheritance tax payable was less than the total tax (inheritance tax and capital gains tax) that would have been payable if gains on assets had been realised before death. Our estimate is that approximately 30,000 estates a year fell or will fall into this category in 2004–05 and 2005–06. A breakdown by income decile is not available.

Cash Machines

Ben Chapman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what representations he has received from members of the public about fee-charging cash machines.

Ivan Lewis: The Treasury has received a number of letters from members of the public about cash machines.
	There are about 20,000 fee-charging cash machines in the UK. They are mostly found in "convenience" locations like pubs and shops. Virtually all bank and building society cash machines are free. There are over 33,000 free cash machines in the UK and over 97 per cent. of withdrawals are made at such machines.
	The Government believe that cash machine charges are an important area of public policy and is continuing to monitor the situation. The Government would be concerned if those on low incomes were found to be incurring disproportionate costs as a result of cash machine charges. Research into how the financially excluded access cash and transmit money, being undertaken through the Financial Inclusion Task Force, should identify, among other things, whether this is the case.

Olympic Lottery Game

Adam Holloway: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will apply the tax revenue from the Olympic lottery game to the funding of the Olympic games.

Dawn Primarolo: The Government intends that the same principles that apply to the existing national lottery should apply to any Olympic themed games. We have made it clear that it is not our intention to fund the 2012 games from central Government tax receipts. In its report on London's bid published on 6 June, the IOC recognised that "The budgeting process is very detailed and meticulous, and assumptions are well supported and they are achievable".

Domestic Violence

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department pursuant to the answer of 20 July 2005, Official Report, column 1781W, on domestic violence, on what frequency surveys are conducted to gauge the level of interpersonal violence suffered by (a) children and (b) adults over 60 years; and what steps are taken to ensure comparability between the results obtained in each such survey.

Hazel Blears: The Home Office currently assesses violence against children aged under 16 through the Offending, Crime and Justice Survey part of which measures victimisation of children aged 10 to 15, including assaults with and without injury. The results on victimisation from the 2003 survey have been published (see findings 246) and data will also be available from further sweeps of the survey in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
	The British Crime Survey (BCS) measures levels of violence against adults (ages 16 and over) living in private households, and as part of its core measures includes domestic violence. Risks of domestic violence are published annually by age group for men and women, including ages 45–64, 65–74 and 75 and over. The British Crime Survey is conducted on a continuous basis, having used the same essential methodology since it began in 1982 to ensure comparability over time.
	However, it is recognised that the core BCS measure of domestic violence is likely to be an underestimate as some victims may be unwilling to report experience of domestic violence to an interviewer. The special self-completion module on interpersonal violence (which measures domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking) is not asked of respondents aged 60 and over. The issue of "elder abuse" in common with child abuse is better explored using dedicated surveys.

Environmental Sustainability

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what steps have been taken by his Department to review its arrangements for public reporting of its sustainable development impacts;
	(2)  what arrangements his Department has in place to report publicly on its key sustainable development impacts.

Charles Clarke: The Home Office currently reports publicly on its key sustainable development impacts through its annual report, sustainable development pages on its website and by contributing to the sustainable development in Government annual report. In addition a separate annual sustainable development report is published for the prison estate. In line with the commitments made in the UK Sustainable Development Strategy, the Home Office will publish its own Sustainable Development Action Plan in December 2005, which will be followed by annual sustainable development reports from December 2006 onwards.

Equality and Diversity

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much the Department has spent promoting equality and diversity in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Charles Clarke: The Home Office is fully committed to the equality and diversity agenda and has policies and processes in place to ensure that there is no unfair discrimination on any grounds. The Department actively promotes the equality and diversity agenda in developing policies on its range of public responsibilities and in its treatment of its staff. The information provided for the Home Office covers the core directorates and devolved areas including the Immigration and Nationality Directorate, HM Prison Service and UK Passport Service.
	Home Office policy and processes on promoting equality and diversity
	Key examples of the range of work done by the Home Office in promoting equality and diversity since 2000 are as follows:
	Setting by Ministers and regular monitoring of race employment targets for the Home Office and its public services (i.e. police service, Prison Service, national probation service).
	Ongoing provision of Race Equality Grants funding which promote race equality community and give ethnic minority communities more access and influence on policy makers and service providers.
	Support for staff on the Cabinet Office Pathways scheme for ethnic minority staff and the Disability Bursary Scheme.
	Establishment and funding of staff networks supporting black and ethnic minority staff, disabled staff and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and transsexual members of staff.
	Annual involvement in the National Mentoring Consortium to help support undergraduate minority ethnic staff in gaining employment after graduation.
	Regular reviews of work-life balance policies and introduction of different working patterns for staff that includes part-time working, job-sharing, home-working and compressed hours schemes. Provision of child care options, including in 2005 the launch of the Childcare Voucher Scheme. In 2000–01 a mandatory Diversity Awareness Training Programme in the core Home Office took place which reached nearly 3,000 staff.
	Positive action training for women, black and minority ethnic staff and disabled staff held in 2001.
	An annual diversity week of events to promote diversity issues to Home Office staff since 2002.
	A dedicated step by step guide on race impact assessment for use by Home Office staff was launched in July 2004.
	In January 2005, the Home Secretary launched "Improving Opportunity, Strengthening Society: The Government's Strategy to Increase Race Equality and Community Cohesion" which sets out one strand of the Government's overall drive to improve fairness and opportunities for all in Britain.
	Publication of the review of the Home Office Race Equality Scheme in May 2005.
	In July 2004, the Home Office launched a Group-wide five Year Race and Diversity Programme as endorsed by the Department's Group Executive Board. The programme's aims are to develop a representative work force at all levels (including the Senior civil service), improve the public perception of fairness in Home Office policies, drive out prejudicial attitudes and behaviours and improve the diversity of staff. A range of projects have been introduced under its three work strands: ownership and leadership; people management; and, business management. These include:
	Publishing checklists that set out what is expected of senior leaders, line managers and staff.
	Testing for inappropriate behaviour during the 2005 senior management promotion exercises.
	Launching a new form that introduced monitoring on sexual orientation, gender identity, religion and belief for HR processes, and for the Home Office to identify, investigate and take positive action to address any disparities in the outcomes for under-represented groups in its work force.
	Launching a four level "Development Plus" programme to provide positive action development for Home Office staff, targeting under-represented groups.
	Introducing a pilot mentoring scheme for staff in under-represented groups.
	Implementing a Disability Action Plan, including a review of the use Disability (Two Ticks) symbol.
	Compulsory diversity awareness training for staff at all levels in the core Home Office, Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND) and Prison Service during 2005.
	IND's development of its own Diversity Action Plan "Towards 2010' as an integrated strategy on diversity across IND leadership, staff management and business delivery areas.
	Prison Service's ongoing work on developing a range of leaflets setting out the responsibilities and rights of staff and prisoners under equal opportunities legislation.
	Financial expenditure on promoting equality and diversity
	The following table sets out the Department's estimated annual expenditure (where available) on promoting the equality and diversity agenda between 2000–05.
	
		
			  £ million 
		
		
			 2000–01 (3)1.1 
			 2001–02 18–3 
			 2002–03 17–8 
			 2003–04 18.5 
			 2004–05 15–9 
			 Total 71.6 
		
	
	(3) 2000–01—The figure excludes figures for Prison Service which are not available.
	The rise in expenditure during the period 2000 to 2002 represents an increase in the Department's overall commitment to diversity initiatives and also takes account of new directorates which received funding to promote diversity and equality.

National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what training is obligatory for members of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children's Specialist Investigation Service;
	(2)  whether all members of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children's Specialist Investigation Service are trained in appropriate interviewing techniques.

Maria Eagle: I have been asked to reply.
	This is essentially a matter for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC). Training requirements for staff are subject to "in house" arrangements at the NSPCC and would not fall under the jurisdiction of the DfES. However, there is an expectation that the NSPCC, along with other organisations involved in child protection would follow Government guidance such as "Working Together To Safeguard Children" (1999) and "Complex Child Abuse Investigations: Inter-Agency Issues" (2002). Local authorities purchasing work from the NSPCC would also need to quality assure that work.

Police

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what relative importance will be given to (a) respect for regional boundaries and (b) local identity in reaching decisions on re-organised police force areas.

Hazel Blears: We consider co-terminosity with regional boundaries and local identity as very important features. To support the development of proposals for restructuring, a toolkit and guidance has been sent to all police authorities and police forces to assist them with a evaluation of options. The guidance, which includes a weighting for each of the design criteria for force restructuring (including co-terminosity with regional boundaries and identity), is available on the police reform website at http://police.homeoffice.gov.uk/police-reform/.

Recruitment Agencies

Si�n James: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many licences were issued to recruitment agencies in the UK to employ immigrant workers in 200405.

Gerry Sutcliffe: I have been asked to reply.
	On 1 May 2004, the Government set up the Workers Registration Scheme (WRS) to regulate access of nationals of the new member states (except Cyprus and Malta) to the labour market and to restrict access to benefits.
	The Government are committed to publish data from the Worker Registration Scheme (WRS) on a quarterly basis. The latest quarterly statistics for the period 1 May 2004 To 30 June 2005 were published on 23 August 2005. The next monitoring report will be published at the end of November 2005.
	The report states that in total, there were 232,000 applicants to the WRS between 1 May 2004 and 30 June 2005 of whom up to 30 per cent. may have already been in the UK before 1 May 2004. 220,000 of these applicants were issued with Worker Registration certificates and cards.
	A copy of the report is available on the IND website:
	http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/ind/en/home/0/reports/accession_monitoring.html
	Most non-EEA nationals coming to the UK for skilled employment require a work permit. Work permits can be issued in any sector, as long as the relevant requirements are met. They are issued for the duration of the post on offer, up to a maximum of five years.
	The employer applies to Work Permits (UK) for the work permit on behalf of the migrant. They must show that all the relevant criteria are met. This includes that a genuine vacancy exists which requires the relevant level of skills and that the employer cannot recruit an EEA worker for the role. Work permits can be issued for vacancies in any sector but are not issued to employment agencies.
	Since 1995, employment agencies operating in Great Britain no longer require a licence in order to trade. The previous licensing arrangements required by the Employment Agencies Act 1973 were found not to provide an effective control and were repealed in 1995. Only a small percentage of new applicants or licence renewals were rejected and EAS inspectors found breaches of the legislation among those with licences. When the previous licensing arrangements were repealed they were replaced by new powers, which allow the DTI's Employment Agency Standards (EAS) Inspectorate to apply to an employment tribunal to prohibit unsuitable persons from running employment agencies and employment businesses, for periods of up to 10 years. In addition, the EAS Inspectorate can prosecute an agency in a magistrates court, where the court can impose a maximum fine of 5,000 for each offence.

Religious Hatred

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what definition he uses of religious hatred.

Paul Goggins: For the purposes of the Racial and Religious Hatred Bill currently before Parliament religious hatred means hatred against a group of persons defined by religious belief or lack of religious belief.
	This definition does not seek to define what amounts to a religion or religious belief. It will be for the courts to determine whether a religion or belief falls within this definition.

Territorial Army

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Territorial Army personnel are deployed overseas, broken down by country; and how many are available for deployment.

Don Touhig: As at 28 October 2005, there are approximately 775 Territorial Army (TA) personnel deployed overseas; of this figure some 695 are in Iraq, 35 are in the Balkans and 45 are in Afghanistan. The latest figures available, dating from 1 September 2005, show some 12,000 members of the TA are available to be deployed.
	The figure of 12,000 is reached by the exclusion of (among others) personnel who:
	have not completed their mandatory training and/or are in the process of being discharged (approximately 11,500 personnel);
	are currently mobilised and deployed and/those who would, if re-mobilized, exceed the statutory limits on mobilised service (section 54 of the Reserve Forces Act 1996 limits mobilisation to a total of 12 months in every 36) (approximately 8,100 personnel); and
	are members of the University Officer Training Corps (approximately 4,000 personnel).

Equal Opportunities

Sarah Teather: To ask the honourable Member for North Devon, representing the House of Commons Commission what equal opportunities strategy the House has in place.

Nick Harvey: The House of Commons Service's commitment to equal opportunities is set out at the beginning of the Staff Handbook:
	The House of Commons Service recognises and values the diversity of its staff and is committed to developing working practices which allow every member of staff to contribute his or her best, regardless of race, sex, marital status, religion or belief, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender reassignment or any other irrelevant factor.
	The handbook, which also contains detailed policies and procedures to underpin this policy, is available on the Parliamentary intranet.
	A five-year diversity strategy and action plan is currently being prepared by the Diversity Forum, a House-wide group of staff which promotes diversity initiatives across the House service.

Avian Influenza

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether there is licensed drug or other treatment available for prophylactic on poultry to (a) reduce susceptibility to infection by H5N1 avian influenza virus and (b) reduce virus shed in the event of an infection episode.

Ben Bradshaw: At present there are no such products, including vaccines, authorised in the UK to either protect against susceptibility to avian influenza H5N1 strain infection, or to reduce virus shedding in the event of infection.

Avian Influenza

Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the capacity of competent laboratories to cope with demands that may arise from measures being taken to prevent H5N1 avian influenza.

Ben Bradshaw: The Veterinary Laboratories Agency (VLA) is an Executive agency of Defra. As the European Community and National Reference Laboratory for avian influenza, the VLA is playing a major role in both the national and international surveillance for the H5N1 virus in wildlife and domestic poultry. The VLA has contingency plans to deal with outbreaks of avian influenza in a variety of different scenarios. These plans include measures to provide the necessary surge capacity which might be required in the event of a severe outbreak of disease.

Bird Trade

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what information she has received on the number of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species-listed birds traded into the EU (a) in 2000, (b) in 2001, (c) in 2002, (d) in 2003, (e) in 2004 and (f) to date in 2005.

Jim Knight: The numbers of CITES listed birds imported into the EU is given in the following table.
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 2000 1,787,244 
			 2001 1,130,273 
			 2002 835,613 
			 2003 1,184,939 
			 2004 694,382 
		
	
	The figures take account of all CITES-listed birds imported into the EU, including birds imported by countries which have become EU member states since 2000 (the figures also include those imported into the UK).
	To date figures are not available for 2005.

Canals (Swindon)

Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the impact of regeneration of waterways on surrounding areas and communities; and if she will make a statement on plans to restore Swindon's canals.

Jim Knight: Our policy paper on the inland waterways, Waterways for Tomorrow recognises the evidence produced by many reports and studies that the improvement, development and restoration of inland waterways acts as an effective catalyst for economic and social regeneration of both urban and rural areas. I understand that the Wiltshire and Berkshire Canal Trust is currently seeking funding for the restoration of the Wiltshire and Berkshire and the North Wiltshire Canals, both of which formerly passed through Swindon. The trust will wish to demonstrate the benefits that restoration of these canals will bring to Swindon and other places on their routes in terms of recreation, local amenity, tourism, and environmental enhancement.

Countryside and Rights of Way Act

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment she has made of the impact on farmers and their land of the provisions of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000; and if she will make a statement.

Jim Knight: It is too early to make an accurate assessment of the impact of the new right of access under the Countryside and Rights of Way (CROW) Act 2000 but monitoring procedures have been put in place. The Countryside Agency will carry out an initial four-year monitoring programme measuring both the impacts and the outputs of the new right across a range of key areas.
	One of the key areas of open access monitoring will look specifically at those who own and manage access land, through a land manager survey.
	The survey will be carried out across a sample of land owners and managers across all mapping areas in order to track awareness and understanding of the CROW Act. Importantly, the survey will also address land owners' and managers' experience of the new right of access and will track both attitudes and perceptions of how the Act is working on the ground.
	Our preliminary view is that measures, guidance and funding are in place to ensure that generally access will not have a significant impact on farmers.
	Where land is subject to the new right, the CROW Act strikes a careful balance between delivering more and better access, and respecting other interests in the countryside. The new right is subject to restrictions to take account of legitimate interests, including the need to ensure effective management of land and livestock. Landowners and agricultural tenants have the discretion to exclude or restrict the new right for up to 28-days each year, for any reason. They may also apply for restrictions or closures where necessary for land management, safety or fire prevention purposes. In addition, we have established a national access management grant scheme to help local authorities, land managers and communities manage open access in their areas proactively. Funding is available for a rapid response service to help access authorities respond quicklywithin 72 hoursto unforeseen on-site management issues raised by land managers.
	Overall, we hope the new right of access will provide opportunities for land managers to diversify their farming practices to take advantage of new visitors and to promote their local produce to a new market.
	Part II of the CROW Act makes a statutory obligation for local authorities to produce rights of way improvement plans. A key aspect of both developing and implementing the plans is to work with landowners and other partners to identify and agree new routes that will improve the network and provide opportunities for diversification of farming activities e.g. horse riding and recreational cycling. The majority of the other provisions in Part II of the Act are aimed at better delivery of existing goals for the rights of way network under current legislation and place few new burdens on farmers.
	In respect of Part III of the Act concerning sites of special scientific interest the regulatory impact assessment prepared at the time the Bill was introduced to Parliament considered the likely effects of the proposals on owners and occupiers of SSSIs, of which farmers are one group. No further assessment of the impact of the SSSI provisions in the Act has been made. However the entire SSSI regime as enhanced by the CROW Act provisions has been challenged and found to be compatible with the human rights of owners and occupiers of SSSIs by the court of first instance and the Court of Appeal.
	We do not think any of the other provisions of the CROW Act will have a significant impact on farmers.

Flood Protection

Geraldine Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what powers the Environment Agency has to prevent development projects going ahead which could increase the risk of flooding to households.

Elliot Morley: The Environment Agency are responsible for providing planning authorities with advice on the environmental impacts, including flood risk, of new developments.
	In order to strengthen the influence of the Agency, the Government will shortly consult on revised guidance to planning authorities on how they should take account of current and future flood risk in making planning decisions. Among other things this consultation exercise will propose that EA become statutory consultees for certain categories of planning applications, and that a power be established for the call-in of applications where EA have objected to a planning application on flood risk grounds and have been unable to resolve their objections with the planning authority.

Non-departmental Public Bodies

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which of the advisory non-departmental public bodies sponsored by her Department have a statutory base; which (a) publish their advice to Government, (b) publish an annual report and (c) lay an annual report before Parliament; and whether it is under a statutory requirement in each case.

Jim Knight: Not all the information required is held centrally and the following parts of this question have not been answered because of the disproportionate cost:
	(a) publish their advice to Government
	(c) lay an annual report before Parliament;
	and whether it is under a statutory requirement in each case.
	Some of part b can be answered, however there is currently no information held centrally on whether these bodies have a statutory base or whether it is a statutory requirement to publish an annual report.
	Most of the information was collected in the last quarter of 2004 and relates only to a question about publishing annual reports on the internet.
	(b) Publish an annual report
	Advisory Committee on Consumer Products and the Environment
	Advisory Committee on Hazardous Substances
	Advisory Committee on Organic Standards
	Advisory Committee on Packaging
	Advisory Committee on Pesticides
	Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment
	Committee on Products and Processes for Use in Public Water Supply
	Committee of Radioactive Waste Management
	Darwin Advisory Committee
	Farm Animal Welfare Council
	Independent Scientific Group on TB in Cattle
	Inland Waterways Amenity Advisory Council
	Integrated Administration and Control System Appeals Panel
	Pesticides Residues Committee
	Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution
	Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Council
	Sustainable Development Commission
	Veterinary Products Committee
	Veterinary Residues Committee
	Zoos Forum
	Sustainable Development Commission
	Veterinary Products Committee
	Veterinary Residues Committee
	Zoos Forum

Call Centres

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many call centres were run by his Department and its agencies in (a) 200304, (b) 200405 and (c) 200506 to date; and how many and what proportion of calls (i) were handled by an adviser, (ii) were received but abandoned and (iii) received an engaged tone in each year.

Karen Buck: The Department and its agencies ran a total of five call centres in the years 200304 to date. Detailed information is as follows:
	DSA
	The DSA has two call centres. Detailed information for the number of calls is as follows.
	
		Theory test booking centre
		
			  200304  200405  200506 (to date) 
		
		
			 (i) Calls handled by an adviser (Number) 1,654,170 1 ,807,074 747,118 
			 Percentage of total calls 91 87 98 
			 (ii) Calls received but abandoned (Number) 51,233 219,758 16,227 
			 Percentage of total calls 3 11 2 
			 (iii) Calls that received an engaged tone (Number) 108,856 41,716 0 
			 Percentage of total calls 6 2  
		
	
	
		Practical test booking centre
		
			  200304 200405 200506 (to date) 
		
		
			 (i) Calls handled by an adviser (Number) 5,031,011 4,551,441 2,220,054 
			 Percentage of total calls 99.8 72 67.6 
			 (ii) Calls received but abandoned (Number) 10,056 14,423 9,771 
			 Percentage of total calls 0.2 0.3 0.3 
			 (iii) Calls that received an engaged tone (Number) Not available Not available 262,036 
			 Percentage of total calls Not available Not available 8 
			 Calls handled by ASR(6) Not available 1,723,654 791,035 
			 Percentage of total calls Not available 27.7 24.1 
		
	
	(6) In June 2004 an Advanced Speech Recognition (ASR) System was introduced which allows callers to transact without the need to speak with an adviser.
	Note:
	The number of abandoned calls is calculated only if the caller abandons the call after 20 seconds. Any calls abandoned before this do not count as it is one of DSA's service targets to answer calls within 20 seconds.
	DVLA
	The information for the DVLA Call Centre, Swansea, is as follows:
	
		
			  200304 200405 200506 (to end September) 
		
		
			 (i) Calls handled by an adviser (Number) 9,000,998 8,792,497 4,954,986 
			 Percentage of total calls 64.35 55.91 46.45 
			 (ii) Calls received but abandoned (Number) 109,901 71,974 77,777 
			 Percentage of total calls 0.78 0.45 0.72 
			 (iii) Calls that received an engaged tone (Number) Not available 501,338 1 ,308,696 
			 Percentage of total calls Not available 4.38 11.49 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The BT statistics needed to report on the proportion of calls that received an engaged tone are only available from August 2004.
	2. The 200506 (to end of September) figures reflect very high demand in June and July as a consequence of a publicity campaign.
	Highways Agency
	The Highways Agency has a single call centre. The number of calls received in 200304, 200405 and 200506 to date is as follows:
	
		
			  Number of calls 
		
		
			 200304 65,687 
			 200405 75,079 
			 200506 (To date) 38,000 
		
	
	The current telephone system used by the Highways Agency information Line does not have the functionality to run automatic reports giving amount of calls (i) received but abandoned, and (ii) received an engaged tone.
	A replacement telephone system, due to be installed January/February 2006, will provide enhanced reporting on call waiting times, abandoned calls and performance of advisers.
	VOSA
	The Vehicle and Operator Service Agency (VOSA) has one call centre. The numbers of calls for 200304 to the end of September 2005 are as follows:
	
		
			  200304 200405 200506 (to end September) 
		
		
			 Calls received by VOSA Enquiry Unit (Number) 281,419 466,834 274,080 
			 (i) Calls handled by an adviser (Number) 269,049 424,740 220,992 
			 Percentage of total calls 97 91 81 
			 (ii) Calls received but abandoned (statistics only available from September 2003) (Number) 12,370 42,094 53,096 
			 Percentage of total calls 4.5 9 19 
			 (iii) Calls that received an engaged tone Not measured Not measured Not measured 
		
	
	Note:
	The high level of abandoned calls in 200506 was related to a sudden increase in volume following the implementation of the E' test booking system in September 2005.

Railways

Anne McIntosh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement of the health and safety implications of recent rail incidents.

Derek Twigg: The Health and Safety Executive's HM Railway Inspectorate has responsibility for enforcing the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974 on Britain's railways. The Rail Accident Investigation Branch, which became operational on 17 October, conducts no blame investigations into accidents and makes recommendations to prevent similar accidents in the future.

Road Safety

Si�n James: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what guidance his Department issues to local authorities on road traffic calming measures.

Stephen Ladyman: The Department's Traffic Calming Bibliography, Traffic Advisory Leaflet 2/05 published in January this year, lists the main items of published advice and research into the design, use and effectiveness of traffic calming measures. Copies of this leaflet have been placed in the House Library.
	In addition, a Local Transport Note on traffic calming is being drafted. This will summarise existing information on the design and effectiveness of traffic calming measures. The Department plans to publish this Local Transport Note early next year.

Departmental Skills Development Plan

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will place in the Library a copy of his Department's skills development plan.

Nick Ainger: The Wales Office has fewer than 500 staff and is not required to produce a skills development plan.
	Skills needs are assessed as part of each member of staff's personal development plan against the requirements of their post and their wider development needs.

Departmental Skills Development Plan

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales which individual in responsible for developing and implementing his Department's skills development plan.

Nick Ainger: The Wales Office has fewer than 500 staff and is not required to produce a skills development plan.
	Skills needs are assessed as part of each member of staff's personal development plan against the requirements of their post and their wider development needs.

Angola

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what progress has been made on the holding of a donor conference to assist reconstruction in Angola.

Hilary Benn: The international community has consistently maintained that, in order for a donor conference to be successful, Angola would first need a poverty reduction strategy (PRS) and a formal programme with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). While a PRS has been in place since January 2003, an IMF programme has not yet been agreed.
	As three and a half years have passed since the end of the civil war, a traditional pledging conference for Angola's reconstruction needs may no longer be appropriate. Recent statements from the Angolan government suggest a partners' conference as a possible way forward. We are considering this.

Carbon Management Programme

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether his Department will sign up to the Carbon Trust's Carbon Management programme.

Gareth Thomas: DFID is committed to meeting the Energy White paper target for central Government estates of reducing absolute carbon from fuel and energy efficiency used in buildings in their estate by 12.5 per cent. by 201011, relative to 19992000.
	The recent refurbishments of our UK offices has given us the opportunity to significantly improve the energy efficiency of our buildings, for instance, DFID has installed Building Management Systems which allow us to monitor and manage energy usage to a much greater extent than in the past. DFID has also installed energy efficient heating systems and also lighting systems that are movement sensitive and take account of natural lighting levels. An Environment Management System (EMS) has been implemented at both main UK offices and we are currently looking at the feasibility of a wind turbine and a combined heat and power plant at the East Kilbride office. The design for refurbishing the East Kilbride office earned an Excellent and the London office a very good BREEAM rating (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology).
	DFID actively encourages car sharing schemes and we publish bus/train timetables on our internal website as well as links to external public transport sites. DFID is also part of a carbon offsetting project with three major airlines where air miles are exchanged for earth miles which contribute to carbon offset projects designed to neutralise harmful emissions from air travel. DFID welcomes any support and advice on managing carbon emissions so we will be giving serious consideration to joining up to the Carbon Trust Carbon Management Programme.

Cayman Islands

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the UK's (a) technical and (b) financial assistance to the Cayman Islands in each year since 1999.

Gareth Thomas: The UK's direct support for the Cayman Islands is set out in the table. In addition, the Cayman Islands also benefit from regional initiatives, its share of which cannot be specifically attributed.
	
		
			  000 
			  Technical Financial 
		
		
			 19992000(7) 49  
			 200001 137  
			 200102 222  
			 200203 61  
			 200304 34  
			 200405 41 (8)200 
		
	
	(7) DFID expenditure. FCO figures not available for this year.
	(8) Emergency assistance following Hurricane Ivan in September 2004. Precise figure is not available as expenditure is attributed to wider Hurricane Ivan assistance which also included Grenada, Jamaica and Cuba.

Chronic Poverty

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what work his Department is doing on social transfers and chronic poverty.

Hilary Benn: DFID recognises that social transfers could have an important role to play in reducing chronic poverty in very poor countries. DFID has recently published a paper entitled: Social transfers and chronic poverty: emerging evidence and the challenge ahead. The paper describes how social transfers have helped tackle poverty in many better off developing countries and suggests that they may have a similar impact in very poor countries. It recognises that there are significant challenges to implementing social transfer programmes in countries with weak institutional capacity but suggests that these are not insurmountable.
	DFID is working with a number of governments in very poor countries to develop a better understanding of the potential role that social transfers could play in tackling chronic poverty. A number of specific social transfer programmes are already under design or are being implemented. DFID has committed 70 million over three years to support a safety net programme for five million chronically poor people in Ethiopia that provides both work programmes and social transfers. We are also supporting social transfer pilot programmes in Zambia and Kenya and our Challenging the Frontiers of Poverty Reduction programme in Bangladesh provides social transfers to very poor women.
	DFID is committed to continuing to collect evidence on the effectiveness of social transfers. For example, the department will provide further funding of up to 7.5 million over five years to the Chronic Poverty Research Centre (CPRC), a research consortium with members in the UK, Africa and South Asia. A key element of CPRC's work will be to examine further how social protection, including social transfers, can help tackle chronic poverty.
	Chronic poverty, of course, needs to be tackled by a range of policy responses, not just social transfers. For example, DFID is working to strengthen health and education services for the chronically poor, as well as increasing their opportunities to participate in economic growth and be more included within national political processes.

Departmental Energy Consumption

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much energy has been consumed by his Department in each of the last five years; and how much was spent on energy in each year.

Gareth Thomas: The energy consumption/costs for the DFID UK estate over the last five years have been as follows:
	
		
			  Consumption (kWh) Cost () 
		
		
			 200001 (9)8,310,124 (9)272,878 
			 200102 (9)8,310,124 (9)272,878 
			 200203 8,310,124 272,818 
			 200304 11,136,145 347,567 
			 200405 10,948,525 388,723 
		
	
	(9) DFID has a baseline year of 200203 as the London office moved to a completely new refurbished building at the end of 2001 and work began to refurbish the East Kilbride office. Data prior to 2002 is incomparable to current data. The increase in consumption in 200304 is due to the East Kilbride refurbishment.
	The recent refurbishments of our UK offices have given us the opportunity to improve the energy efficiency of our buildings; for instance, DFID has installed Building Management Systems that allow us to monitor and manage energy usage to a much greater extent than in the past.
	DFID has also installed energy efficient heating systems and also lighting systems which are movement sensitive and take account of natural lighting levels. An Environment Management System has been implemented at both UK offices. The design for the refurbishment of our East Kilbride office has received an excellent and the London office a very good rating under the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology (BREEAM).
	Information on energy costs at our overseas offices is not centrally available and could not be obtained without incurring a disproportionate cost. Through our green awareness programme we are encouraging overseas offices to consider the implementation of similar energy efficiency measures wherever possible.

Healthcare Professionals Recruitment

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development 
	(1)  what representations he has received from (a) healthcare recruitment agencies, (b) developing countries and (c) representatives of health workers on the Code of Practice for the International Recruitment of Healthcare Professionals;
	(2)  what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health on the Code of Practice for the International Recruitment of Healthcare Professionals.

Gareth Thomas: DFID and the Department of Health (DoH) officials are working closely together on ethical international recruitment practices of health care workers which includes DFID's participation in the Department of Health's International Recruitment Board. DFID was pleased to contribute to the revision of the Code of Practice for the International Recruitment of Healthcare Professionals last year and welcomed the strengthening of the code particularly in relation to the inclusion of the private sector.
	During my recent trip to Zambia and Malawi with Rosie Winterton, the Minister of State for the DoH, we discussed health worker shortages and international recruitment practices with local officials and health workers. We recognised that while the code has had some impact, there is consensus that it can not address the root causes of worker shortages. A number of DFID country offices are working with developing country governments to address their health worker shortages based on locally recommended solutions to build stronger health systems and services. This includes increasing national training capacity while simultaneously making improvements to working terms and conditions which directly affect recruitment, retention and performance of existing workers.
	Outside of my visits to Zambia and Malawi, I have not received formal representations from the other groups mentioned in your question. The DoH officials, along with national health service (NHS) employers are taking an active lead in the implementation and monitoring of the code and representations related to the code that have been directly addressed to the them.

House Building (Planar Technology)

Anne Snelgrove: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will assess the merits of using planar technology in house building for developing countries.

Hilary Benn: DFID's approach shelter and housing is not to specify particular technologies, but to support demand driven programmes which focus on enabling communities to develop their own solutions to local challenges, as in the case of our support to the Community Led Infrastructure Financing Facility (CLIFF). DFID funds a major programme of social and scientific research that enables effective solutions involving the full range of appropriate technologies. Details of our research can be found on DFID's website http://www.dfid.gov.uk/research/.

Malawi

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development if he will make a statement on the famine in Malawi.

Hilary Benn: I refer the hon. member for Hammersmith and Fulham to the response I gave to the hon. Member for Boston and Skegness (Mark Simmonds) on 31 October 2005, Official Report, column 768W.

Nicaragua

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development pursuant to the answer of 21 October 2005, Official Report, columns 3132W, on Nicaragua, what steps he takes to ensure monies allocated for dispersal by the Nicaraguan authorities in the Atlantic Coast Region are spent there.

Gareth Thomas: A key way to ensure monies are spent as intended is to have an effective, independent and reliable audit system. As the result of the support of a number of donors, the Nicaraguan National Comptroller's Office will soon be able to share its audit of all central Government expenditure (for 2004 expenditure) with donors for the first time. DFID, together with German aid, is providing the support needed also to complete the first audit of all municipal government expenditure (for 2004 and 2005 expenditure) by the third quarter of 2006. Together, these audits will enable donors to compare actual expenditure with planned expenditure for the bulk of activities funded by the Government of Nicaragua, including monies allocated for the Atlantic Coast Region.
	DFID's support for the audit of municipal authorities is part of a recently approved 1.5 million project to strengthen the accountability of municipal governments. The project will also support the ability of private sector organisations and civil society to monitor the performance of municipalities. This will increase the pressure on them to use monies as intended.
	The Nicaraguan Ministry of Finance has recently introduced a financial management system that provides web access to monthly statements of unaudited expenditure by sector, department and institution, this information can be found the web address at: (www.consultaciudadana.gob.ni/cciudadana). The Nicaraguan Ministry of Finance is also able to analyse expenditure by region and intends to make these reports available on the web as well in the near future.

Nigeria

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what transparency and accountability mechanisms the Department has in place to ensure that debt relief for Nigeria is used to alleviate poverty; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: The Nigerian Government have decided that all of the savings from debt relief will be dedicated to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. For 2006, these savings will be around $1 billion. The Nigerian Government are ensuring that this is spent on poverty reduction through an expenditure tracking system known as a Virtual Poverty Fund. This will track the flow of funds into spending on sectors such as health, education, water, agriculture, power and roads.
	The President has welcomed international involvement in overseeing expenditure through this mechanism and has set up a high level committee including donors and civil society; the structure should be in place by the end of this year. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will monitor progress with reform as part of the debt deal. The World Bank will also carry out a public expenditure review next year.

Zambia

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what reports he has received of fuel shortages in Zambia; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: My right hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, recently visited Lusaka and was briefed by DFID staff about the fuel shortages. He met with Mr. Dipak Patel, Minister for Commerce, Trade and Industry, who was subsequently appointed by President Mwanawasa to head a ministerial committee on the fuel shortages. The committee is resolving the crisis and developing a medium term strategy to ensure better fuel supplies.
	Recent shutdowns at Indeni in Ndola (Zambia's only oil refinery) seriously disrupted supplies of petrol and diesel. There have been long queues at filling stations around the country. Major businesses including the copper mines and commercial agriculture have been affected. Continued fuel shortages will reduce economic growth and increase inflation. Rising transport costs have pushed up other prices.
	Food prices are of particular concern given the recent drought and there may be a rise in the number of people in need of food aid. DFID is assessing the case for more humanitarian relief over and above recently agreed funding of the World Food Programme and Oxfam in Zambia.
	Last week, most parts of the country had some petrol and diesel due to more refined supplies being brought into the country by tankers. However, the situation is not back to normal. The Indeni refinery is not yet operating effectively. The lack of reserves remains a concern.
	On 5 October 2005, the Zambian Government requested support from DFID to advise on options for future petroleum supplies in the country, including a technical and financial review of the Indeni refinery. DFID organised the visit of an expert to Lusaka to discuss these requests with Minster Patel and agree on their scope. DFID will be providing further support in co-operation with other development agencies.

Autistic Children

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what plans she has to introduce a requirement of minimum training standards for people who work with autistic children; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  how much teacher training time is devoted to lessons on training to identify children with dyslexia; and if she will make a statement.

Maria Eagle: The National Standards for Qualified Teacher Status, and the Induction Standards for Newly Qualified Teachers, both cover special educational needs (SEN), which would include autistic spectrum disorders as well as specific learning difficulties, such as dyslexia. The requirements are designed to ensure that teachers are able to support pupils with SEN and can differentiate their teaching to meet the needs of such pupils.
	The National Occupational Standards for Teaching/Classroom Assistants also contain elements relevant to working with pupils with SEN or particular educational needs. Similarly, the Standards for Higher Level Teaching Assistants (HLTAs), for which the Training and Development Agency for Schools is responsible, require HLTAs to be familiar with guidance about meeting SEN given in the SEN Code of Practice. The IDA will be reviewing its standards as part of its new responsibilities for the school work force.
	Some social workers also come into contact with autistic children and their families. The new Social Work degree was introduced in 2003 as a three year course to improve the skills base and competence of newly-qualified social workers. For non qualified Social Care staff, the National Minimum Standards, set by the Department of Health, require that 50 per cent. of care staff and 100 per cent. of registered managers achieve an NVQ qualification by 2005/06.
	Information as to the specific amount of time allocated by teacher training institutions or schools to training in particular aspects of SEN, such as autism and dyslexia, is not collected centrally by the Department. However, we have pointed to the importance of these areas. The Good Practice Guidance on Autistic Spectrum Disorders, which the Departments for Education and Skills and Health published in 2002, made knowledge and understanding of ASDs the first of its key principles which should underlie provision for children with the disorders. It advised that
	all those who plan and provide for children with an ASD should have some knowledge and understanding of autism.
	As regards dyslexia, the Department's Primary National Strategy has produced an extensive range of specific guidance material for schools on evidence-based interventions for children with significant literacy and numeracy difficulties. A three wave model of intervention has been developed, designed to identify and support those children experiencing difficulty in literacy and/or mathematics, a good many of whom are likely to fall somewhere on the dyslexia spectrum.
	We have also produced guidance material on classroom strategies to enable dyslexic pupils to access learning and have recently released a new interactive CD-ROM based in-service training resource, Learning and teaching for dyslexic children. This has been developed in collaboration with the British Dyslexia Association and the Dyslexia Institute. The resource is designed to help school staff increase their awareness and understanding of the barriers to learning presented by dyslexia, and the teaching strategies that can be used to overcome them.

Departmental Research

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will list research commissioned by the Department in the past 12 months.

Bill Rammell: I am able to list the 68 research projects that the DfES has commissioned in the past 12 months (from 1 November 2004 to 1 November 2005).
	List of research commissioned by the DfES since 1 November 2004
	1. A Study Of Suitable Methods For Raising School and Pupil Response Rates In Educational Research.
	2. Adoption Initiative: Supporting the birth relatives of adopted children and supporting post-adoption contact in complex cases.
	3. Analysis of predicted A level grades and offers in sample applicants in 2004 cycle.
	4. Apprenticeship Pay: A Survey of Earnings by Sector.
	5. Behaviour and Education Support Team Evaluation.
	6. Benefits Interaction Survey.
	7. Case StudentshipInstitute of Education EPPE team.
	8. Child care and early years provider survey.
	9. Children and Young People's Home Use of ICT for Educational Purposes: The Impact on Attainment of Key Stages 14.
	10. Connexions Direct: Users Views' survey and mystery shopping exercise.
	11. Consultancy for the PISA Technical Review Group.
	12. Consultancy for the PISA Technical Review Group.
	13. Data linking for HE monitoring, research and evaluation.
	14. Developing Extensions To DEA Techniques.
	15. Developing New Techniques For DEA (part 2).
	16. Dissemination of the Review of Fostering Research.
	17. Educating Difficult Adolescents.
	18. Effects of pupil grouping.
	19. Estimating The Relationship Between School Resources and Pupil Attainment at GCSE.
	20. Evaluating Common Assessment Framework and Lead Professionals Guidance and Implementation.
	21. Evaluation Of Aimhigher.
	22. Evaluation of Family Resolutions
	23. Evaluation of Full Service Extended Schools (Stage 2).
	24. Evaluation of Parent Partnership Services.
	25. Evaluation of the Connexions through children's trusts case studies.
	26. Examining the feasibility and desirability of an evolved CDL programme for learning below level 4.
	27. Extended Services in Schools: Baseline Survey of Maintained Schools in 2005.
	28. Foundation research on the motivations and mindsets of young people
	29. Further Work on The Impact of School Resourcing on Attainment in Secondary Schools.
	30. Higher Education Institutions' Finances and Provision: Baseline Institutional Case Studies.
	31. How do young people make choices at KS3  4?
	32. Impact of e-learning in FE survey.
	33. Improving qualifications information in the LFS.
	34. Learning from the Family Support Grant.
	35. Linking up directories of children's services.
	36. Literature review of phonics use.
	37. London Challenge: Pupil and Teacher Surveys 2005.
	38. London Challenge: Third Survey of Parents and Carers 2005.
	39. Main Stage of the Evaluation of the Extended Schools Child care and Child care Taster Pilots.
	40. Mapping of qualifications and training development across the children and young people's workforce.
	41. NALS 2005.
	42. National Audit of Low Incidence Special Educational Needs Support, Services and Provision.
	43. National Research Co-ordination For England's Participation in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS).
	44. OECD Thematic Review Of Tertiary Education.
	45. Parental Involvement in Children's Education.
	46. Partners Surveys.
	47. Provider Performance Case Studies.
	48. Quality of Child care in the Millennium Cohort Study.
	49. Research into the deployment patterns of mathematics and science teachers.
	50. Research into the recruitment, deployment and management of supply teachers in England.
	51. Research on employers use and views on vocational qualifications.
	52. Research to inform the management and governance of children's centres.
	53. Safeguarding immigrant children.
	54. School meals in primary schools.
	55. Schools' Use of Data in Teaching and Learning.
	56. Special Educational Needs and Minority Ethnic Groups: a literature review.
	57. Student Loan Repayment Models 2005.
	58. Study of the Impact of e-learning on participation, retention and attainment in Further Education.
	59. Study of the impact of level 2 learning and qualificationsmain stage.
	60. Teaching Approaches to promote consistent level 4 performance in key stage 2 English and Mathematics.
	61. The Children, Young People and Families Tracking StudyEvery Child Matters: Children's Workforce Research Project.
	62. The role of Training Allowances in incentivising the behaviour of young people and employers.
	63. The School Sports Partnership Programme: Evaluation 2005/06.
	64. Tracking EPPE pupils from KS2 to KS3.
	65. Using Cross Classified Models to Improve Estimates of the Determination of Pupil Attainment: Literature Review and Scoping Study.
	66. Validation Study of the Pisa 2000, Pisa-2003 and Timss-2003 International Studies of Pupil Attainment (ISAS).
	67. Validity Study of the Use of an Aptitude Test in University Entrance.
	68. Why here? Report of qualitative work with teachers working in schools above and below the floor targets.

Further Education

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans the Department has for reviewing the levels of funding allocated to further education in (a) Coventry and (b) England.

Bill Rammell: On 21 October, I made an announcement, setting out the Government's strategic direction for the learning and skills sector for the coming period. My main purpose for doing so was to ensure the 2006/07 funding allocations process began with a clear and concise message on the principles that will underpin funding over the next two years.
	In addition, the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) published Priorities for Successa document that sets out the funding strategy for the next two years in more detail. This document is available on the LSC's website.
	Although more funding will be going into the sector, we will focus funding even more strongly on key priorities of raising participation and achievement 1419 and driving down the skills deficit in the adult work force. This will mean that less provision outside these priority areas can be supported at previous levels, and that there has to be a new balance of responsibilities between government, employers and learners to achieve this.
	The Chancellor announced in the 2004 spending review settlement for education and skills in April 2004, that there will be over 1 billion of additional investment in the learning and skills sector by 200708. We will not know what this will mean for regional and local budgets until allocations are made by the National LSC Office, following receipt of the grant letter from my Department.

New Deal

Tim Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make a statement on her Department's contribution to the establishment of the new deal for skills.

Phil Hope: The Department for Education and Skills is working with The Department for Work and Pensions, The Department for Trade and Industry and Her Majesty's Treasury to develop a package of measures that are known collectively as new deal for skills. As announced in Budget 2004, new deal for skills is a package of measures to help people move from welfare into sustainable, productive work and help adults in employment progress from low to higher-skilled work. For those moving from welfare into work, new deal for skills comprises three main strands: Skills coaching, skills passports and the adult learning option and is jointly project managed by DfES and DWP. DfES has made available 4 million in 200506 for the development and trials of skills coaching and skills passports which are being delivered by the Learning and Skills Council to support DWP priority customers.
	DfES has been actively involved in the design and development of the DWP-led adult learning option which aims to test the effectiveness of providing financial support to encourage low skilled Jobcentre Plus customers to take full time Level 2 learning where a lack of skills is considered to be the barrier to a return to the labour market.
	In supporting progression for those adults in work, the new national employer training programme (NETP), which will be rolled out from April 2006, will encourage employers to develop people at all levels. Unemployed people who are engaged in the new deal for skills and who join an NETP participating company will be able to draw on the services of a skills coach to help them through their first few months of employment and development.

Schools

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of 25 October 2005, Official Report, columns 21722W, on schools, if she will list the actions she has approved for each school; and whether she has exercised her powers under section 45 of the Education Act 2005.

Jacqui Smith: The action approved for individual schools, over and above the input from local authorities, is set out in the following table. In summary, additional funding has been approved for seven schools to improve capacity; 14 schools have been supported by School Improvement Partnership Boards, also with additional funding; an Interim Executive Board (IEB) has been approved for eight schools; Fresh Start proposals have been approved for three schools; four schools are part of London Challenge initiatives; and proposals have been approved for three schools to become Academies. Proposals for further Academies and another Fresh Start are currently under consideration. The power to close a school under Section 45 of the 2005 Education Act has provided a powerful stimulus to local authorities to take action in anticipation of any use of that power and has not yet been used.
	
		
			 School Local authority Date into special measures Funding to improve capacity SIPB IEB Fresh Start Academies London Challenge 
		
		
			 The Warren Comprehensive Barking and Dagenham 13 May 2004   
			 Bishop Douglass School Finchley Barnet 13 November 2003 Yes Yes 
			 Clitterhouse Junior School Barnet 3 February 2004   
			 Hollickwood Primary School Barnet 20 July 2004   
			 St. Mary's CE High School Barnet 22 October 2003 Yes Yes 
			 Elmhirst School, The Barnsley 21 April 2004   
			 Sandhill Primary School Barnsley 8 June 2004   
			 Oak Bank School Bedfordshire 24 September 2004   
			 Highters Heath Primary School Birmingham 16 June 2004   
			 Oldknow Junior School Birmingham 8 June 2004   
			 Darwen Moorland High School Blackburn 20 November 2003   Yes  Yes  
			 Boundary Community Primary School Blackpool 7 November 2002   
			 Immanuel CofE Community College Bradford 21 January 2004  Yes 
			 Rhodesway School Bradford 18 December 2002  Yes 
			 Usher Street Primary School and Nursery Bradford 10 July 2003  Yes 
			 Wedgwood School and Community Nursery Bradford 12 October 2004   
			 Windhill CE Primary School Bradford 11 February 2004  Yes 
			 Wyke Manor School Bradford 10 May 2004  Yes 
			 St. Andrew and St. Francis CofE Primary School Brent 21 April 2004   
			 Hengrove School Bristol 14 November 2003  Yes   Yes  
			 Portway Community School Bristol 14 November 2004  Yes Yes
			 Mount Pellon Junior and Infant School Calderdale 21 April 2004   
			 Robartes Junior School Cornwall 24 June 2004   
			 St. Ives Junior School Cornwall 15 February 2003   
			 St. Meriadoc CofE Junior School Cornwall 21 April 2004   
			 Tollgate Primary School Croydon 14 January 2004   
			 Winterboume Nursery and Infants' School Croydon 30 July 2004   
			 Morton Park Primary School Cumbria 12 November 2003   
			 Wyndham School Cumbria 2 March 2004   
			 Derby City PRU Derby 30 July 2004   
			 Merrill College Derby 25 September 2003 Yes  
			 Moorhead Primary School Derby 8 October 2003   
			 East-the-Water Community Primary School Devon 25 September 2003   
			 Adwick Park Junior School Doncaster 28 January 2004   
			 Northcliffe School Doncaster 27 November 2003   
			 Portland Tophill Junior School Dorset 30 July 2004   
			 The Old Park School Dudley 26 April 2004   
			 Flamborough Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School East Riding 14 January 2004   
			 Rawcliffe Pupil Referral Unit East Riding 11 February 2004   
			 Seaford Head Community College East Sussex 29 January 2004   
			 Ashingdon School Essex 4 March 2004   
			 Holy Trinity CofE VC Primary School Essex 19 December 2002   
			 Langenhoe Community Primary School Essex 27 November 2003   
			 Lexden Springs School Essex 20 July 2004   
			 St. Peter's High School and Technology College Essex 3 October 2003   
			 Templars Infant and Nursery School Essex 4 November 2003   
			 Vange Primary School and Nursery Essex 12 November 2003   
			 Sandford School Gloucestershire 12 February 2004   
			 Bishop John Robinson CE Primary School Greenwich 22 September 2004   
			 Holy Trinity CE Primary School Hackney 30 September 2004   
			 Halton High School Halton 12 July 2004   
			 Burlington Danes CofE School Hammersmith  Fulham 25 May 2004  Yes 
			 Hurlingham and Chelsea Secondary School Hammersmith  Fulham 4 March 2004  Yes 
			 Oak Farm Community School Hampshire 4 March 2004   
			 Downhills Primary School Haringey 2 December 2002   
			 Little Stanmore Nursery, First and Middle School Harrow 22 July 2004   
			 Owton Manor Primary School Hartlepool 21 June 2004   
			 King's Wood School Havering 30 April 2004 Yes Yes 
			 Weobley High School Herefordshire 8 June 2004   
			 Cotlenswood School Hertfordshire 26 November 2005   
			 Abbotsfield School for Boys Hillingdon 7 January 2003  Yes 
			 Bromstone Primary School, Broadstairs Kent 20 November 2003   
			 George Spurgen Community Primary School Kent 12 July 2004   
			 Homewood Infant School Kent 7 July 2004   
			 Lawn Primary School Kent 3 April 2000   
			 Minster College Kent 5 December 2003   Yes
			 St. Mary of Charity CE (Aided) Primary School Kent 22 July 2004   
			 Whitehill Junior School Kent 22 July 2004   
			 Endeavour High School Kingston Upon Hull 26 March 2004 Yes  
			 Birkby Junior School Kirklees 26 March 2003   
			 ETHOS Primary Pupil Referral Unit Kirklees 10 June 2004   
			 Rawthorpe High School Kirklees 28 March 2003   
			 Rawthorpe Junior School Kirklees 29 April 2004   
			 Skerton Community High School Lancashire 13 November 2003   
			 Intake High School Arts College Leeds 29 April 2004   
			 New College Leicester Leicester City 9 December 2003 Yes Yes Yes
			 Queensmead Junior School Leicester City 12 November 2002   
			 St. Peter and St. Paul Church of England Primary School, Burgh- Le-Marsh, The Lincolnshire 24 June 2003   
			 Sutton Bridge Westmere Community Primary School Lincolnshire 24 February 2004   
			 The Pinchbeck East Church of England Primary School Lincolnshire 30 July 2004   
			 Ashcroft High School Luton 19 November 2003   
			 Putteridge High School Luton 4 March 2004   
			 Meade Hill School Manchester 10 March 2004   
			 Warren Wood Community Primary School and Language Unit Medway 11 February 2004   
			 Mitcham Vale High School Merton 2 July 2004  Yes Yes
			 The Radcliffe School Milton Keynes 20 November 2003   
			 Gillingham, St. Michael's CofE Voluntary Aided First School Norfolk 11 May 2004   
			 Silverdale School North Tyneside 6 March 2003   
			 Duston Upper School Northamptonshire 18 September 2003   
			 The Orchard School Northamptonshire 10 March 2004   
			 Sherwood Hall School and Sixth Form College Nottinghamshire 21 March 2003 Yes Yes 
			 The Gedling School Nottinghamshire 13 November 2003   
			 East Crompton St. George's CofE School Oldham 21 April 2004   
			 Hardman Fold Community Special School Oldham 28 April 2004   
			 Northfield School Oxfordshire 26 April 2004   
			 Knowle Primary School Plymouth 19 November 2003   
			 Hainault Forest High School Redbridge 21 November 2003  Yes 
			 Redbridge Junior School Redbridge 16 August 2004   
			 Bullough Moor Primary School Rochdale 25 February 2004   
			 Moorhouse Primary School Rochdale 12 February 2004   
			 Wingfield Comprehensive School Rotherham 30 March 2004   
			 Harrop Fold School Salford 24 June 2003  Yes 
			 Irwell Park High School Salford 30 April 2003   
			 Moorside High School Salford 23 March 2004   
			 The Albion High School Salford 20 September 2004   
			 Langley Primary School Sandwell 5 November 2003   Yes  Yes  
			 Rood End Primary School Sandwell 2 October 2003   
			 Shirecliffe Junior School Sheffield 8 October 2003   
			 Langleywood School Slough 6 November 2003   
			 Middlezoy Primary School Somerset 22 July 2004   
			 Severn Beach Primary School South Gloucestershire 25 November 2003   
			 Prittlewell Technology College Southend 16 June 2004Yes   
			 Thorpe Bay School Southend 10 June 1999   Yes Yes   
			 Cobourg Primary School Southwark 8 June 2004   
			 Galleywall Primary School Southwark 4 March 2003   
			 Robert Browning Primary School Southwark 27 February 2003   
			 Newton-le-Willows Community High School St. Helens 15 January 2004   
			 Amington Heath Community School Staffordshire 15 October 2003   
			 Nether Stowe High School Staffordshire 17 February 2004   
			 Springhill Primary School Staffordshire 12 February 2004   
			 Kirkley Middle (Sec) School Suffolk 24 June 2003   
			 Bishop David Brown School, The Surrey 25 November 2003   
			 Potters Gate CofE Primary School Surrey 24 June 2004   
			 Watchetts Junior School Surrey 2 December 2003   
			 Seven Fields Primary School Swindon 26 February 2004   
			 Micklehurst All Saints CofE Primary School Tamestde 2 April 2003   
			 Stretford High School Community Language College Trafford 22 January 2004   
			 Church Mead Junior School Waltham Forest 1 October 2004   
			 Horizon Centre Warrington 24 February 2004   
			 Woolston Community High School Warrington 12 March 2004   
			 Hartshill School Warwickshire 21 April 2004   Yes
			 Queen Elizabeth School Warwickshire 5 February 2004   
			 St. Francis Catholic Primary School Warwickshire 29 July 2004   
			 Two Porches School Wigan 7 June 2004   
			 Corsley CE Primary School Wiltshire 5 July 2004   
			 Bromsgrove, Catshill Middle (Sec) School Worcestershire 22 October 2003   
			 Kidderminster PRU Worcestershire 29 July 2004   
			 Leigh and Bransford Primary School Worcestershire 6 August 2004   
			 North Bromsgrove High School Worcestershire 4 February 2003   
			 Redgrove School Worcestershire 16 June 2004Yes

Sex Education

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what research her Department has commissioned on the effects of the provision of sex education on the level of teenage pregnancy.

Maria Eagle: The factors that influence the rate of teenage pregnancy are complex and it is difficult to be precise about the impact that a single factorsuch as the quality of sex and relationships education (SRE)has on individuals' choices or rates of teenage pregnancy in particular locations. However, we do know that:
	The Social Exclusion Unit's report on Teenage Pregnancy (1999) identified ignorance of sex as a major contributory factor in England's high rate of teenage pregnancy, and argued that improving the quality of SRE should be a key element of the multi-faceted strategy to halve the rate of under-18 conceptions by 2010;
	The evidence-base for the teenage pregnancy strategy was reviewed by the Health Development Agency in 2003, which concluded that There is good evidence on the effectiveness of school based sex education, particularly linked to contraceptive services, in preventing unintended teenage pregnancies; and
	The national evaluation of the first four years of the teenage pregnancy strategy shows that young women receiving the greatest number of SRE lessons and reporting that SRE fully met their needs, are significantly less likely to become pregnant before 18.

Sex Education

Nick Harvey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills if she will make it her policy to encourage the teaching of sex education in schools, with particular reference to (a) preventing teenage pregnancy and (b) informing young people of the risk of contracting HIV and sexually-transmitted diseases.

Maria Eagle: There is a statutory duty on secondary schools to teach key aspects of sex and relationships education (SRE)in particular teaching about human reproduction and STIs and HIVwithin the statutory science curriculum.
	DfES further recommends that schools should teach about sex and relationships within the framework for Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE), and in 2000 issued non-statutory guidance on SRE to help schools achieve this objective. PSHE aims to give young people the skills and knowledge to avoid a range of negative outcomes, including unplanned pregnancies and STIs.
	DfES is also supporting improved delivery of PSHE by: providing continuing professional development (CPD) programmes for teachers and community nurses involved in delivering PSHE; developing guidance for schools to help them better assess what young people are learning in PSHE; and by making it a requirement that schools who achieve healthy school status must have an effective PSHE programme in place.

Special Educational Needs

Adam Holloway: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps she is taking to support children with special educational needs, with particular reference to Gravesham.

Maria Eagle: Local authorities have important and extensive duties to identify, assess and make provision for children with special educational needs and to keep their arrangements for doing so under review. Schools, early education settings, local authorities and others must have regard to the Special Educational Needs Code of Practice, which gives guidance on carrying out their statutory duties under the 1996 Education Act. Decisions about the support to be provided for children in Gravesham are a matter for the Kent local authority, taking account of their statutory duties. The Government have no direct role in this.
	More broadly, the national policy on SEN is set out in the Government's SEN strategy Removing Barriers to Achievement, published in February 2004. The strategy sets out a long-term programme to improve SEN provision and to improve outcomes for children and young people with SEN. As part of this strategy, the Department is promoting more consistent practice through a team of national SEN advisers. The advisers are working with all local authorities to provide support and challenge on key SEN issues, including the management of provision for children with special needs.

Special Educational Needs

Lynne Featherstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps the Government are taking to ensure the recommendations in Removing Barriers to Achievement: The Government's Strategy for Special Educational Needs is fully implemented across the country; and if she will make a statement.

Maria Eagle: Much progress has already been made on implementing the long-term programme of action set out within Removing Barriers to Achievement. A team of national advisers for Special Educational Needs (SEN) is working with local authorities across the country to take forward the action in the strategy. The advisers, together with the network of 11 SEN Regional Partnerships, will help to identify and disseminate effective practice in provision for children with SEN. The implementation of Removing Barriers to Achievement is an integral part of the Government's policies to improve outcomes for children with SEN and disabilities and their families.

Ambulance Service Restructuring

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate she has made of the likely level of cost savings arising from the proposed restructuring of the Ambulance Service.

Liam Byrne: Taking Healthcare to the Patient: Transforming NHS Ambulance Services set out how the range and quality of services provided to patients by ambulance services could and should be improved. The report recommended fewer, larger trusts so that they would have the capacity to deliver the changes required.
	We expect efficiencies to be realised in management and administrative positions, headquarters and estates, and better use of resources, but it will be for the new trusts to calculate the level of efficiency savings to be made to offset transitional costs and to re-invest in local services for improving patient care.

Barnsley District General Hospital

Eric Illsley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the projected costs are of redundancies planned at the Barnsley district general hospital.

Liam Byrne: This is a matter for the chair of the Barnsley district general hospital national health service foundation trust. I have written to Gordon Firth informing him of your inquiry. He will reply shortly and a letter will be placed in the Library.

Cancelled Operations

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cancelled operations there have been in each primary care trust in London in each quarter in the last four years.

Jane Kennedy: The Department does not hold data by primary care trust. However, trust data is available on the following website at: www.performance.doh.gov.uk/hospitalactivity/data_requests/cancelled_operations.htm.

Correspondence

Tony Baldry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when she will reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Banbury of 13 September on community health.

Liam Byrne: My noble Friend, the Minister of State for National Health Service delivery (Lord Warner) responded to the hon. Member's letter on 17 October 2005.

Correspondence

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps she is taking to improve the Department's performance in replying to correspondence from members of the public;
	(2)  what steps she is taking to improve the Department's performance in replying to hon. Members' correspondence.

Jane Kennedy: Every effort is made to handle all correspondence effectively and efficiently.
	All correspondence from hon. Members and Peers is handled in accordance with the principles set out in Handling Correspondence from Members of Parliament, Members of the House of Lords, MEPs and Members of Devolved Assemblies: Guidance for Departments. The same principles apply when handling correspondence from members of the public.
	Information relating to the performance of Departments in replying to hon. Members and Peers' correspondence is published on an annual basis. The report for 2004 was published on 6 April 2005, Official Report, columns 13740WS.
	The establishment of the customer service centre and the extra attention and resources directed to this important part of the Department's work have resulted in a considerable improvement both in the timeliness and in the quality of responses. Recent figures show that the Department is now one of the top performers in Government, with more than 90 per cent. of all letters from hon. Members and Peers answered within the Whitehall standard of 20 working days.

Hepatitis C

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is planning to maximise detection of hepatitis C within the population.

Caroline Flint: The hepatitis C action plan for England, July 2004, sets out a framework of key actions to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis C. It highlights the need to raise awareness of hepatitis C in order to increase diagnosis.
	As part of implementation of the action plan, the Department launched hepatitis C awareness campaigns for health care professionals and the public in 2004. These campaigns have so far included:
	the distribution of a hepatitis C information pack to all general practitioners and practice nurses and other key health care professionals in England, which includes guidance on hepatitis C testing;
	a new national health service hepatitis C awareness websitewww.hepc.nhs.uk;
	a new national hepatitis C freephone information line (0800 451451);
	features in health care professional journals, regional/national newspapers and consumer magazines;
	an innovative photography exhibition of portraits of people with hepatitis C which is touring regional cities using local patient case studies; and
	a health promotion resource for young offenders which will be launched in November 2005.
	The National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse have introduced from 1 April 2005, a system for monitoring the frequency of hepatitis C testing of injecting drug users receiving drug treatment.

Intermediate Care

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many intermediate care (a) beds and (b) supported places there are in England; how many older people have used them in each year since 2002; and if she will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: The table shows the data collected centrally, which do not distinguish by age of service user.
	
		
			  Number of places in non-residential intermediate care schemes Number of intermediate care beds Number of people using intermediate care 
		
		
			 200203 19,078 7,493 284,365 
			 200304 17,339 8,697 333,821 
			 200405 20,558 8,928 362,664 
		
	
	Source:
	Statistical summary to the chief executive's report to the national health service13 May 2005.

NHS Pension Scheme

Laura Moffatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many women doctors contributed to the NHS pension scheme between 1972 and 1988; and what contributions were made by (a) men and (b) women to the scheme between those dates, expressed as a percentage of salary.

Liam Byrne: Data on women doctors who contributed to the national health service pension scheme between 1972 and 1988 is not held in the format requested.
	The contribution rate for all doctors, male and female is the same at 6 per cent. of NHS pensionable pay.

NHS Professionals

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment her Department has made of NHS Professionals; and if she will make a statement.

Liam Byrne: NHS Professionals is playing a useful part in securing the appropriate and effective use of temporary staff and reducing national health service expenditure on private agency staff. A recent independent report recorded that agency spending fell for the first time in recent memory in 200304.

Strokes

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to ensure that national effective protocols and training are in place for (a) ambulance staff and (b) staff in accident and emergency departments to ensure that they can identify patients who have had a stroke and refer them for the most effective treatment.

Liam Byrne: Standard five of the national service framework for older people provides a programme of action to ensure that those who have had a stroke have prompt access to integrated stroke care services. As part of this, it sets out the importance of making a rapid diagnosis in improving patient outcomes.
	All United Kingdom ambulance services currently use National clinical guidelines developed by the joint Royal Colleges ambulance liaison committee (JRCALC), that include the recognition, assessment and management of stroke /cerebral bleeds.
	Many PCTs have agreed local arrangements with ambulance services, which ensure that once an ambulance crew has made the diagnosis of stroke, the patient is transferred directly into an acute stroke unit. The joint ASA/JRCALC clinical effectiveness committee published the ACT NOW expert report on 'joined-up' stroke services in June 2004. The report shares best practice in acute stroke management within emergency medical services and relevant hospital departments and gives examples of pathways to optimise co-ordination between disciplines. The Department's stroke strategy group will be looking at ways to share best practice guidance to encourage more trusts to adopt this approach where appropriate.

Strokes

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps she is taking to ensure that all stroke patients receive a brain scan within 48 hours of having a stroke.

Liam Byrne: Standard five of the national service framework (NSF) for older people, published in March 2001, provides a programme of actions to reduce the incidence of stroke in the population and ensure that those who have had a stroke have prompt access to integrated stroke care services. More patients are being seen by stroke specialists and stroke mortality is declining.
	Included within standard five is a guideline stating that,
	immediate management to improve chances of survival and minimise the risk of complications should include a brain scan within 48 hours.
	The Department is currently working up a framework to ensure scanning services can be deployed quickly and appropriately.

West Suffolk NHS Hospital Trust

Richard Spring: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the financial outturn was at West Suffolk NHS hospital trust (a) at its inception and (b) in every year since its inception.

Rosie Winterton: The information requested is shown in the table. Information relating to the years prior to 199798 is not available.
	
		West Suffolk hospitals national health service trust, retained surplus/(deficit) for the year 000
		
			  Retained surplus/(deficit) 
		
		
			 199798 (32) 
			 199899 28 
			 19992000 (286) 
			 200001 290 
			 200102 (936) 
			 200203 947 
			 200304 (2,501) 
			 200405 (7.638) 
		
	
	Source:
	Audited summarisation schedules of the West Suffolk Hospitals NHS Trust.

Household Statistics

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of children have lived in households with (a) no adult in work, (b) a single parent and (c) less than 60 per cent. of median income in each year since 1976; and if he will make a statement.

Margaret Hodge: At spring 2005 there were 15.7 per cent. of children living in a household with no adult in work and 22.1 per cent. of children living in a lone parent household.
	
		Percentage of children in (a) households with no one in work and (b) lone parent households from 1992 to 2005
		
			 Period as at spring Children in households with no one in work Children in lone parent households 
		
		
			 1992 19.7 17.1 
			 1993 20.3 18.0 
			 1994 21.0 19.5 
			 1995 20.6 20.6 
			 1996 19.8 20.2 
			 1997 18.4 19.9 
			 1998 18.5 21.1 
			 1999 18.0 21.6 
			 2000 16.4 21.0 
			 2001 16.1 21.3 
			 2002 16.7 22.2 
			 2003 16.1 22.4 
			 2004 15.9 22.6 
			 2005 15.7 22.1 
		
	
	Source:
	Household labour force survey
	Between 199697 and 200304 the number of children who live in households with less than 60 per cent. of median income has fallen by 600,000 before housing costs and 700,000 after housing costs.
	
		Percentage of children who have lived in households with less than 60 per cent. of median income
		
			  Percentage 
		
		
			 Before housing costsFRS (GB) 
			 199405 23 
			 199506 22 
			 199607 25 
			 199708 25 
			 199809 24 
			 19992000 23 
			 200001 21 
			 200102 21 
			 200203 21 
			 200304 21 
			   
			 After housing costsFRS (GB)  
			 199405 31 
			 199506 31 
			 199607 33 
			 199708 32 
			 199809 33 
			 19992000 32 
			 200001 30 
			 200102 30 
			 200203 28 
			 200304 28 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. The figures are from the households below average income (HBAI) publication, DWP. http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/hbai.asp.
	2. Family resource survey (FRS) figures are for Great Britain. The reference period for FRS figures is single financial years.
	3. In order to maintain comparability with data in different years FRS data has been used. FES data is available for years 1993--94 and earlier but is not directly comparable with FRS.
	Source:
	Family resource survey

Pensions

Brian Jenkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of people in (a) Tamworth constituency, (b) the West Midlands and (c) the UK who have lost their pensions due to firm insolvency since 1997.

Stephen Timms: The information is not available. The Government are currently inviting notifications from affected pension schemes to the Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS), and is therefore obtaining some information on the number of members facing pensions losses due to company insolvency. In due course, information will also be collected on individual members in schemes qualifying for FAS, including their addresses, at which point it may be possible to make some estimates of numbers affected in particular areas.
	Based on our most recent data collection for the FAS, we know of around 70,000 non-pensioner members in schemes that are potentially eligible for assistance from the FAS as a result of their schemes being wound up in circumstances of insolvency or where the employer no longer exists.

Sudan

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions his Department has had with (a) the Sudanese Liberation Army and (b) the Justice and Equality Movement.

Ian Pearson: We are in regular contact with the two main rebel movementsthe Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) and the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) through officials in the Sudan unit in London and our embassy in Khartoum.
	Most recently, on 20 October, Her Majesty's ambassador to Sudan travelled to Darfur to meet Minni Minnawi, Secretary General of the SLM/A, and urged him to resolve the internal divisions within the movement, abide by the ceasefire and reach a political solution as soon as possible.
	My noble Friend, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister for Africa (Lord Triesman of Tottenham) plans to meet Dr. Khalil Ibrahim, President of the JEM, on 9 November.

Antisocial Behaviour

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what measures are in place to tackle antisocial behaviour by tenants in the private rented sector.

David Hanson: The procedure for evicting a private sector tenant who is guilty of anti-social behaviour can be initiated at relatively short notice under the notice to quit procedure. Where the tenant's own landlord is unwilling to take action, the Housing Executive, registered housing associations and private sector landlords can seek injunctions to protect their tenants, persons visiting their tenants and persons carrying out a lawful activity in the vicinity of their tenants' homes, from conduct causing or likely to cause nuisance or annoyance. A landlord can seek such an injunction against any person, including a tenant of another landlord.
	In addition, the Anti-social Behaviour (Northern Ireland) Order 2004 allows the Housing Executive to seek antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) to protect its tenants, persons visiting or residing with their tenants, and persons in or likely to be in the vicinity of the executive's houses, from behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress. The Housing Executive can apply for an ASBO against any person, including a private sector tenant.

Civil Service

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many permanent Northern Ireland civil servants have been demoted in each of the last 10 years; how many of these have been voluntarily demoted; and what the respective (a) grades and (b) branches of the officers were (i) before and (ii) after demotion.

Angela Smith: In the Northern Ireland Civil Service demotions may fall into two categoriesone requested by the individual officer and the second as a result of an individual's inefficiency at the present grade or as the consequence of disciplinary action.
	A table setting out the total number of Northern Ireland Civil Servants demoted and also voluntarily demoted for each year from January 1996 to 2005 to date, can be found at Table 1.
	Table 2 shows for each year aggregate demotions by grade and whether or not there was a change of branch after demotion. To protect the identity of individual members of staff concerned branches before and after demotion have not been provided.
	
		Table 1: Overall number of demotions and voluntary demotions of Northern Ireland Civil Servants in Northern Ireland Government Departments and the Northern Ireland Office, 19962005 to date
		
			  Total number of demotions Total number of voluntary demotions 
		
		
			 1996 9 7 
			 1997 3 3 
			 1998 2 2 
			 1999 14 8 
			 2000 13 10 
			 2001 13 11 
			 2002 13 10 
			 2003 12 8 
			 2004 15 12 
			 2005, to date 11 11 
			 Overall total 105 82 
		
	
	
		Table 2: Northern Ireland Civil Servants demoted in Northern Ireland Government Departments and the Northern Ireland Office 1996 to 2005
		
			Branch 
			 Grade after demotion Grade before demotion Number demoted Changed branch Remained in branch 
		
		
			 1996 
			 AA AO 3 2 1 
			 AO E02 3 3  
			 Grade 7 Grade 5 1 1  
			 ASO Scientific Officer 1 1  
			 EO1 SO 1 1  
			  
			 1997 
			 Roadworker (Team Leader F) Foreman 1 1  
			 EO11 EO1 1 1  
			 EO1 SO 1 1  
			  
			 1998 
			 AO EO2 1 1  
			 AA SSO2 1  1 
			 1999 
			 AA AO 5 3 2 
			 Class 3 Craft Helper 1 1  
			 EO2 EO1 2 1 1 
			 AO EO2 2 2  
			 DP Grade 7 1 1  
			 AO Programmer 1 1  
			 Roadworker 2 Roadworker 1 1  1 
			 EO2 SO 1  1 
			  
			 2000 
			 Grade 7 Grade 6 2 1 1 
			 EO2 EO1 1 1  
			 AO EO2 2 2  
			 Grade 5 Grade 3 1  1 
			 PTO Civil Engineer Graduate Trainee Civil Engineer 1 1  
			 AA SSO2 3 3  
			 Support Grade Band 2 (SGB2) Support Grade Band 1 (SGB1) 2 1 1 
			 Typist Typing Manager 1  1 
			  
			 2001 
			 SGB1 AO 1 1  
			 C (EO1/EO2) B2 (SO) 2 2  
			 EO2 EO1 1 1  
			 SSO1 EO1 1 1  
			 AO EO2 2 2  
			 SGB2 SGB1 3 2 1 
			 AO SO 1 1  
			 EOl SO 1  1 
			 AA SSO2 1  1 
			  
			 2002 
			 AA AO 3 1 2 
			 SSO1 EO1 1 1  
			 AO EO2 1  1 
			 AO EO1 1 1  
			 PTO HPTO 1  1 
			 SGB2 SGB1 1 1  
			 SGB1 SM3 1  1 
			 EO1 SO 3 3  
			 AA SSO2 1  1 
			  
			 2003 
			 AA AO 6 3 3 
			 Class 2 Class 1 2  2 
			 EO2 EO1 1  1 
			 Inspector Grade 2 Inspector Grade 11 1  
			 SS02 SSO1 1  1 
			 AA SSO2 1  1 
			  
			 2004 
			 AA AO 5 2 3 
			 Dl (AO) C (EO1/2) 1 1  
			 D2 (AA) Dl (AO) 1  1 
			 AO EO2 4 2 2 
			 DP Grade 7 1 1  
			 AO SSO1 1 1  
			 AA SSO2 2  2 
			  
			 2005 
			 AA AO 3  3 
			 SG2 (Lab Attendant) ASO 1 1  
			 Dl (AO) C (EO1/2) 1 1  
			 Class 3 Class 2 1 1  
			 EO2 EO1 1  1 
			 Scientific Officer Higher Scientific Officer1 1  
			 AA SSO2 2 1 1 
			 EO2 SO 1 1  
		
	
	Glossary of Grades:
	AA : Administrative Assistant
	AO : Administrative Officer
	ASO: Assistant Scientific Officer
	DP: Deputy Principal
	EO: Executive Officer
	HPTO: Higher Professional and Technical Officer
	PTO: Professional and Technical Officer
	SGB: Support Grade Band
	SM: Support Manager
	SO: Staff Officer
	SSO: Social Security Officer

Climate Change Targets

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the contribution that action by local authorities in Northern Ireland will make to meet climate change targets.

Angela Smith: Northern Ireland contributes to the UK climate change targets. There are no separate emission reduction targets for Northern Ireland.
	Data is available on emission trends at regional and local level. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs published estimates of carbon dioxide emissions for 2003 by local authority area in the UK on 21 October 2005. The Northern Ireland figures were attached.
	These are experimental statistics subject to some limitations and uncertainties and it is too early to use them as performance indicators for local areas.

IRA Decommissioning

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  on what date he was first informed of the identity of the two clergy witnesses to IRA decommissioning;
	(2)  on what date he was first informed that the IRA had invited reverend Good and Father Reid to be the clergy witnesses to IRA decommissioning.

Shaun Woodward: On 26 September, the IICD gave a press conference and submitted a report to the British and Irish Governments. The reverend Good and Father Reid attended that conference in their capacity as independent witnesses. The identities of the independent witnesses were known from that point onwards. The IICD's report to the two Governments of 26 September referred to the role of reverend Good and Father Reid in witnessing the decommissioning. The independent witnesses provided invaluable extra assurance in the process.

Landlords

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what (a) information and (b) training is made available by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive to landlords.

David Hanson: The Northern Ireland Housing Executive has recognised the need to provide information and training to landlords on a range of issues. Action to date has taken a number of forms. It has:
	Held a number of open seminars in Belfast, Londonderry and Coleraine to discuss general topics of interest to landlords.
	Established a Landlords Association in the North and West of the Province.
	Established a Landlords Forum whose members include the Landlords Association for Northern Ireland, Smartmove and others.
	Established a Private Rented Sector Advice and Information Forum to assess the support and education needs of landlords and develop a programme to meet these needs.
	Held, and continues to hold, periodic landlord seminars to update landlords on the application of housing benefit.
	In addition, information has been provided to landlords on a range of houses in multiple occupation issues and guidance material made available on housing benefit and the private rented sector.

Marriages

Peter Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many marriage ceremonies have taken place in (a) Antrim borough council and (b) Ards borough council in each of the last five years.

Angela Smith: The following tables give the number of marriages registered in Antrim and Ards local government districts and, of these, the number of civil ceremonies which took place in the Antrim and Ards council offices between 2000 and 2004.
	
		Table: Number of marriages registered in Antrim local government district and of these the number of civil ceremonies that took place in the Antrim council office, 2000 to 2004(16)
		
			  Civil marriages celebrated in Antrim council office Marriages registered in Antrim local government district 
		
		
			 2000 59 203 
			 2001 60 221 
			 2002 67 203 
			 2003 46 201 
			 2004(16) 48 203 
		
	
	(16) Data for 2004 is provisional.
	
		Table: Number of marriages registered in Ards local government district and of these the number of civil ceremonies that took place in the Ards council office, 2000 to 2004(17)
		
			  Civil marriages celebrated in Ards council office Marriages registered in Ards local government district 
		
		
			 2000 86 273 
			 2001 80 290 
			 2002 82 293 
			 2003 75 291 
			 2004(17) 65 244 
		
	
	(17) Data for 2004 is provisional.

Police

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when the Police Service of Northern Ireland diving unit was last provided with new diving suits and equipment; and what resources and equipment are available to the unit.

Shaun Woodward: This is an operational matter for the chief constable, who will write to the hon. Lady. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library.

Police

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the (a) size and (b) composition of the Police Service of Northern Ireland diving unit is; what its budget was in each of the last five financial years; and what its allocation is for 200506.

Shaun Woodward: This is an operational matter for the chief constable, who will write to the hon. Lady. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library.

Private Rented Housing

Nigel Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what plans he has to make disputes between landlords and tenants in the private rented sector subject to arbitration.

David Hanson: The Department for Social Development and the Northern Ireland Housing Executive published their joint strategy for the private rented sector, entitled Renting Privately: a strategic framework, in May 2004. This includes an objective to research and evaluate the need for an arbitration service and to conduct a pilot voluntary disputes project. The Northern Ireland Housing Executive has commissioned research from the University of Ulster and a report is expected shortly.

Surplus School Places

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how his Department estimates the number of surplus places in schools in Northern Ireland.

Angela Smith: I would refer the hon. Lady to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Aylesbury on 28 October 2005, Official Report, column 665W.